House-door letter-box



(No Model.)

P. ANDERSON. HOUSE DOOR 'LET-TBR BOX.

PmntedApr; 19,1892.

.fue norms wenn: oa., muvo-umm, msnm-mu, o, c.

' ATENT Prion.

PETER ANDERSON, OF FORT XVAYNRINDIANA.

HOUSE-DOOR LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 473,138, dated April 19, 1892.

Application tiled October 29, 1891. Serial No. 410,290. (No model.)

' do hereby declare that the following is a full,

clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same,

. reference being had to the accompanyin g drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in boxes for receiving and securing mail, and is specially designed to be secured to lamp-posts or on or near doors of dwellings, offices, or other places of business.

The objects' of my improvement are, first, to provide amail-box of economical construction, having one apartment for receiving letters and another apartment for securing the same, so constructed and' arranged that the contents will automatically pass from the former apartment to the latter and at the same time sound an alarm upon the inside of the house or building upon which myimprovement is used, thereby notifying,` the inmates that mail has been deposited therein; second, to provide a mail-box so constructed that it can be conveniently and readily operated by the postman without using his hands. These objects are accomplished by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of myimprovement secured to a door-jamb with an alarm attached, showing by dotted lines the appearance of my device when open and in position for receiving mail-matter. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of my device, showing the door to the lower apartment by which the mail is removed, and also showing the front of the box broken away in section to show the position of the adjustable bottom and the hinge upon which the box is pivoted.

Similarletters refer to similar parts throughout the several Views.

Box 6, for receiving and securing mail-matter, may be constructed of any proper material that affords requisite strength and security oonsistent with convenient size, though I preferably construct it of metal. Said box 6 is hinged or pivoted upon a rod or hinge 7, secured in a suitable frame 3,.,preferably an 4open one, having a proper top and sides, but 55 no front or back, and also constructed of metal.

Frame. 3 is so constructed as to be readily secured to a door-jamb 9 or other suitable support in any proper manner, and, while said frame may be provided with a suitable bottom to increase its strength and rigidity, yet I preferably omit the bottom, as shown.

Box 6' has an opening 15 at the top for the reception of mail and is provided with a hinged partition or adjustable bottom 14, hinged or pivoted to the rod 12, which rod is secured to either side of said box. This adjustable bottom 14 is so adapted to the size and shape of box 6 that it impinges against the sides thereof and divides box 6 into two separate apartments when it is open to receive mail. In the sides of said box at a suitable distance below rod 12 I provide a slightlycurved transverse slot 13, in which slides the rod 16, passing through said box and rigidly fixed at either extremity in frame 3 and adapted to elevate bottom 14 to a practically horizontal position when said box is open. Said box is also provided with a suitable knob or handle 4 near the top for opening the box by withdrawing it from frame 3, and a door 5, having hinges 17 and 18 and a small glass front, through which the contents of thelower apartment may be readily seen. This door 5 may also, if desired, be provided with a lock and key, though this feature is not essential to my invention.

To the back of box 6 in anyproper manner is secured one extremity of rod 11, while the other end of said rod is connected in any suitable manner with antlarm'lO.

IVhen my improved mailbox thus described is placed in positi0n,it is operated as follows: The operator seizes the knob or handle 4 and pulls the top of box 6 outward, being pivoted on hinge 7. (Best seen in Fig. l.) This movement automatically shifts the movable partition or adjustable bottom 14 from a vertical to apractically horizontal position and divides box 6 into two separate apartments by changing the relative position of rod 16 in slot 13 in a well-known manner. In this position bottom 14 is rigidly and securely held ICO until box G is closed. lVhen thus opened, the mail may be deposited through the opening 15 into the upper apartment, When it will rest on the adjustable bottom 14; but when knob or handle 4 on the upper end of said box is released from the grasp of the operator the box G is so balanced upon the hinge or pivotal point 7 that itautomaticallycloses by its own Weight, and at the same time forces the hinged or movable partition 14 to assume the vertical position seen in Fig. 2, which allows the mail to readily pass into the lower` apartment, Where it is securely locked, and

rod 16 resumes its position, as seen in Fig. 1. Vhen box 6 closes in the manner `thus described, it sounds or rings the alarm 10 when properly connected thereto by the rod 11, which notifies the inmates that mail has been deposited therein, and from which it can be taken only through the door 5, Fig. 2.

By arranging the hinge 7, upon which box U is pivoted, a .few inches above the bottom thereof the postman can readily open the box by the pressure of his arm, shoulder, or other portion of his body against the bottom, and

hold it in that position until the mail is de-l posited therein. This is a great convenience when the postman has both hands full of mailmatter.

Vhen my improved mail-box is used. for streets, the rod 11 and the alarm 10 may be omitted.

IIaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new and useful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A mail-box consistingof a box 6, having au opening 15 for the insertion of mail, a handle 4, an adjustable partition 14, hinged on lthe rod 12, a door 5 to the lower apartment thereof, a transverse slot 13 for the rod 1G, and a rod 11, secured to the back of said box and connected to an alarm 10, and an open frame 3, having a rod 1G rigidly fixed in the sides thereof for elevating,r and supporting partition 14 when box G is open and having a hinge 7, upon which box 6 is so pivoted as to automatically close by its own Weight when released from the grasp of the operator, all substantially as described.

2. In a mail-box, the combination of a box 6, having an opening 15 for the insertion of mail, a handle 4 for opening said box, an adjustable partition 14, pivoted on the rod 12, secured to the sides thereof, a door 5 to the lower apartment of said box, a transverse slot in the sides thereof for the rod 1G, and a rod 11, secured to the back of said box and connected to an alarm 10 with the frame 3, having a suitable top for the protection of opening 15, a rod 1G, rigidly secured to the sides thereof, which elevates and supports partition 14 in a horizontal position byits adjustment in slot 13, and a hinge or pivot 7, upon which box G is so pivoted as to automatically close by its own weight when opened, all substantially as described, and hereinbefore set forth.

The combination, in a mail-box, of abox having an opening 15 in the top thereof for the insertion of mail, a halidle 4 for opening said box, a transverse slot 13, through which passes the rod 1G, an adjustable partition 14, so pivoted upon the rod 12 in box G as to main4 tain a vertical position when the box is closed, but arranged to automatically assume a horizontal position when box 6 is opened, with a frame 3, having a rod 16 rigidly fixed in the sides thereof, sliding in slot 13 for elevating and supporting partition 14, and a hinge '7, upon which box Gis pivoted, all substantially as set forth and described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto subscribe my name, in the presence of two Witnesses, this 26th day of March, 1891.

PETER ANDERSON.

Vitnesses:

ALBERT BAKER, H. C. HARTMAN. 

